Shen Yun, a New York-based performing arts company with a tagline “China before communism,” has enchanted audiences across the globe since its annual tours began in 2006, with a new programme every year that consists of elegant dance, vibrant costumes, original music, animated backdrops, and family-friendly humour.
New Era, one of Shen Yun’s eight touring companies, will put on 47 shows in ten British cities and towns during the next two months, beginning with one in Birmingham on Friday evening.
Having landed at London’s Heathrow airport on Thursday, principal dancer Marilyn Yang said she hopes British audiences will enjoy “true traditional Chinese culture” that’s free of communist propaganda.
Lisa Lee, ticket hotline manager at Cathay Arts and Heritage, the UK tour’s promoter, said people have been eager to see the show.
“Many have said, ‘I’ve waited for so long and really can’t wait any more,’” she told The Epoch Times.
“Even during the Christmas holiday, there was no decline at all in ticket sales,” she said.
“We had less time for promotion ... this year, and double the amount of venues and tickets compared to last year, but they are almost sold out outside of London,” Ms. Lee said.
“So the mission of Shen Yun Performing Arts is to revive China’s traditional values and divine-inspired culture” that were almost destroyed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), she told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times.
“There are a wealth of stories from China’s dynasties that reflect values such as loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness. We bring the stories alive on stage with the purest form of classical Chinese dance so people can see what China really looks like without communism,” she said.
‘Flows Like Water’
For Ms. Yang, this is the second time she performs in the UK with Shen Yun. The Canadian-born principal dancer told NTD she has fond memories from her first UK tour, and she said it is “really exciting to be back.”
So, what can audiences expect?
In the words of former professional ballet dancer Kimberley Urch who saw Shen Yun in London during the last season, “It was one of the most beautiful dance events I’ve seen, it was really uplifting.”
Accompanied by a live orchestra that incorporates Western and Chinese instruments, a typical Shen Yun show consists of classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, story-based dance, as well as a number of vocal and instrumental performances.
“I think our show is something that’s really emotional for everyone. You might laugh, you might cry, you'll have moments of ... touching and heartfelt emotions. I hope that everyone in the UK can come and enjoy our show,” Ms. Yang said.
According to Shen Yun, the company dancers are classically trained with unique techniques, including a once-lost technique that elongates a dancer’s limbs to the greatest extent.
The technique, “shen dai shou, kua dai tui,” which means the body leads the hands and the hips lead the legs, makes movements “flowy,” Ms. Yang said.
“I would describe it like your body moves and flows like water, but it’s not too relaxed.”
‘A Better You Than You Were Yesterday’
While the communist party in China also claims to promote traditional culture in various forms such as movies and shows, it has “very communist propaganda that’s incorporated” into it, Ms. Yang said.“So I think it’s really refreshing to be able to see Shen Yun because ... it’s 100 percent traditional culture and it’s something that you can’t see anywhere else today.”
In order to illustrate Chinese history and culture with their art, Shen Yun performers endeavour to embody what they perform by studying the history and the cultural background, Ms. Yang said.
“All the values that we portray on stage, I think that we cultivate within ourselves, cultivate these virtues,” she said.
“Every single piece in our programme, it has a moral to the story, it has meaning to it. And I think that’s incredibly important for us to study this culture and this history, so that we can really become—not only a better performer and dancer—but also a better person, a better you than you were yesterday.”
Shen Yun artists are adherents of Falun Dafa, a Chinese spiritual practice with the doctrine of “truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.” Ms Yang said she believes these principles have made the group stronger.
“We have to be humble, you have a sense of humility there, it’s not everyone’s out for themselves or that we’re trying to shine under the spotlight,” she said. “I think it’s incredibly important that through Falun Dafa, we learned to be a better person ... a better teammate for everyone so we can have a stronger group.”
The company will be touring the UK until Feb. 25, with shows in Birmingham, Oxford, Woking, Milton Keynes, Northampton, London, Llandudno, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Salford.
